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The Good & the Bad:
a MISTI™ Stamping Tool Review
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, (we don’t judge) you have probably heard something about the MISTI stamping tool in the past year.
This stamping tool has taken the crafting world by storm this year and, as you will see in a minute, that is actually for a pretty good reason.
Whether you are ready to spend your money or are still just thinking about it, don’t buy before you read this MISTI review.
But First, What Is a MISTI?
The Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented, or MISTI, was created by the Iliana Myska of My Sweet Petunia. She needed to make a large batch of cards for her church group but kept having problems with inconsistencies in her stamping. Every time she made a mistake, she had to start the card over again.
Not only was this wasting supplies, but massive amounts of time as well. How could she make multiple versions of the same card without making any mistakes? After a few attempts, Myska came up with the design for a tool that could solve this problem.
Then, she took to the hardware store and the Original MISTI was born.
How Does the MISTI Work?
To use the MISTI, you place your paper on the bottom side of the tool and use the magnets to hold it in place. Then, you place your stamp (flat side up & without ink) in exactly the spot on your page where you want to stamp it.
Next, you simply have to close the acrylic top and pick up the stamp. Finally, you just ink your stamp, press down the lid and you are done.
If you make a mistake, it is easy to re-ink your stamp and try again.
Who Is the MISTI for?
The MISTI Ultimate Stamping Tool is for anyone who wants to quickly and easily make cards using stamping techniques.
While it is pretty useful, it is not absolutely necessary. Stampers have been making beautiful art long before the MISTI.
However, if you are serious about making perfect cards to give or sell en masse, then the MISTI really is a must.
In addition, it is also an especially beneficial stamping tool for people with arthritis or any of type of health condition which affects how well you can control your hands.
Do you have trouble using traditional crafting tools because of a health issue?
We recommend that you check out this brilliant video by Sandy Parker, a crafter with rheumatoid arthritis. She discusses her favorite crafting tools on her YouTube channel: Crafting For Almost Everyone
So….what is our MISTI Stamping Tool review?
The Good:
Overall, we think the MISTI tool has a lot going for it.
- Saves Time: It can help you make a ton of cards in an extremely short time.
- Corrects Mistakes: Also, it is easy to correct stamping mistakes by re-inking and stamping again.
- Magnets: The SUPER strong neodymium magnets keep your paper from shifting positions.
- Laser Etched Grid: It has a grid and ruler for lining up your stamps.
- Works for Many Stamps: Plus, the MISTI works for rubber stamps AND clear stamps. You cannot use this stamping tool for your wooden stamps, unless you peel them off of the wood block.
- 3 Different Sizes: There are currently 3 sizes of MISTI. The Original MISTI, which has a stamping area of 6.5 x 8.5in. The Mini MISTI for card makers, with a stamping area of 6 x 4.75in. And the giant Memory MISTI for scrapbookers. The Memory MISTI has a stamping area of 12.25 x 12.25in.
The Bad:
While the MISTI can be very useful, we do have a couple of complaints.
- Expensive: The MISTI costs a lot of money for what it actually is. Basically, it is two flat pieces clasped together with a hinge. Read more about this point in our Verdict below.
- Special Cleaner: Sweet Petunia strongly encourages you to use a special MISTI cleaner. Otherwise, you might damage your MISTI tool.
- First Generation Problems: Some people who bought the original, Original MISTI had issues with the hinges cracking and the grid lines wiping off. However, the new generation of this stamping tool seems to have resolved these problems.
- Complaints Against the Inventor: Another complaint about the the MISTI is more about the inventor than the product itself. It seems that Myska is extremely litigious and protects her invention doggedly. Here are CraftYourself.de, we want to champion female entrepreneurs and intellectual property rights. But many crafters feel that the way Myska goes about protecting her property is against the spirit of crafting. She has been called out for “bullying” craft bloggers who create DIY MISTIs and share the instructions with their readers. Since these craft bloggers were not attempting to sell their DIY versions, but merely show what they have created, a lot of crafters feel that Myska’s approach is unfair.
On a related note, you can go here to read our review some MISTI alternatives from a few major craft brands.
(How Myska will respond to such behemoths as We R Memory Keepers or Die Cuts & More remains to be seen.)
Our verdict:
We think the MISTI is pricey and that is kind of a bummer. But at the time it was invented, there was truly nothing as good (or as pink) on the market.
After several failed attempts at a diy MISTI, we decided that the MISTI Stamping Tool is not something can easily be replicated. Myska and her company have done what many of us struggle with: the math
It is not as easy to get consistent results as it might initially seem. There are definitely plenty of crafters who enjoy the process of measuring and remeasuring, cutting and trimming and aligning all the elements until everything is perfect.
But there are also a lot of crafters like us, who want to just finish our pretty project and then move on to the next. For that reason, we like the MISTI because all of the hard work is done for us. The MISTI works perfectly every.single.time.
Our DIY versions were not as reliable or as cute.
So, we think you should probably just think of it as an investment in your art and spend the extra money to get a MISTI. Or one of these pretty good MISTI alternatives.
This Post Has 2 Comments
I finally bought a misti after thinking about it for a few months. Yes, it is pricey but WOW it is SO worth it! My cards look so much better and are way easier to make. Thanks for the review!
That’s awesome Jamie! I love mine too. <3